North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Technical Report 23

Table of Contents

Pacific Salmon at Sea: Using Historical Data to Characterize Distributions in a Warming Ocean

Authors:
Joseph A. Langan, Curry J. Cunningham, Jordan T. Watson, and Skip McKinnell

Abstract Excerpt:
Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) spend a large portion of their life cycle in the open ocean, where their growth, survival, trophic interactions, and habitat selection are influenced by ocean conditions (Mueter et al. 2005; Farley et al. 2020; Litzow et al. 2020). As they travel across great distances in these offshore habitats, the vulnerability of salmon to fisheries interactions has also been a subject of concern in recent years (https://npafc.org/enforcement-activities/; Oozeki et al. 2018). Investigating salmon marine spatial dynamics through directed sampling efforts, however, is both resource-intensive and logistically difficult given the spatial scale of their marine migrations. Despite these challenges, there is a history of high seas Pacific salmon research led initially by the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (1952–1992) and later by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (1993–Present). Through these collaborations, Pacific Rim nations have executed research programs across the North Pacific in pursuit of a variety of research objectives that shifted over time. Due to these evolving priorities, a sampling bias toward the late spring and summer, and decreased support for high seas research in recent decades, these data exhibit a highly heterogenous spatiotemporal distribution across the North Pacific. On aggregate, however, the salmon survey records cover much of the oceanic range of Pacific salmon and provide information on distribution and relative abundance throughout the seasonal cycle.

*This is the first paragraph of an extended abstract. Download the full abstract below.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr23/654-hy7

Citation

Langan, J.A., C.J. Cunningham, J.T. Watson, and S. McKinnell.  2022.  Pacific salmon at sea: using historical data to characterize distributions in a warming ocean.  N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Tech. Rep. 23: 1–3.  https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr23/654-hy7